The present invention concerns solutions for winding coils of wire onto dynamo-electric machine components. In particular, the present invention concerns forming wire coils by simultaneously winding a plurality of wires onto the dynamo-electric machine component. For example, wire coils may be wound onto the poles of a lamination core or may be wound onto themselves in components that do not require or possess poles.
These wire coils have the purpose of generating the electro-magnetic field needed in the final application of the dynamo-electric machine component. For example, the previously mentioned lamination core may be either a stator core or an armature core of a dynamo-electric machine. The dynamo-electric machine as a whole may be an electric motor, which is used for many types of driving applications.
In order to maximize the amount of wire that can be placed in the spacings of the dynamo-electric machine component, the turns of the wire coil must be regularly disposed (e.g., along the sides of the pole pieces) without twisting the plurality of wires onto each other. Further, the wires must be placed so that the wire turns are positioned in an ascending or descending layer formation (commonly referred to in the art and hereinafter as “stratification”).
Current winding apparatus may allow certain portions of the wire turns to unevenly accumulate and locally bulge outward from the side of the collection of wire coils. Such bulges, especially in consideration of the limited spacings available on an dynamo-electric machine component, may interfere with or impede access through the limited component spacings during the wire winding process.
This situation is even more severe when the winding process requires the simultaneous winding of a plurality of wires to form a single wire coil, especially when the wire dispensing member must pass through the spacings on the dynamo-electric machine component to wind the multiple wires. As a result of the requirement for multiple wires, bulges are more likely to be caused by twisting of the multiple wires and may interfere with the movement of the wire dispensing member within the component spacings.
The present invention proposes to perform multiple-wire winding processes that avoid wire twisting and improper disposition of the wires. Further, the present invention proposes to improve the ability of the wire dispensing member to traverse the spacings on the dynamo-electric machine component. As a consequence, the winding processes performed with the present invention are less likely to be hindered by interference and are capable of obtaining more wire fill within the component spacings and higher winding speeds.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more apparent in view of the following drawings and detailed description of the preferred embodiments.